http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 1/60804001

August 4, 2006


Palm Bay Council advances
undocumented worker ordinance

Final vote set for Aug. 17

BY LINDA JUMP
FLORIDA TODAY

PALM BAY — By a 4-1 vote after 11 p.m. Thursday, city council members approved for final vote an ordinance that will fine employers who hire undocumented workers in the city. The final vote will be Aug. 17.

Only Mayor John Mazziotti opposed the measure, saying he was concerned about enforcement and how the code enforcement officer would use his power to investigate.

“How can we go on a job site without being accused of profiling?” the mayor asked.

Councilman Andy Anderson last month asked for the ordinance. He said he’s frustrated that the federal government isn’t handling the issue of illegal and undocumented workers effectively.

Anderson likes the revised ordinance, which removed language about illegal aliens and immigrants.

“It doesn’t make people feel like it’s a targeting issue or racial profiling,” Anderson said.

The council unanimously approved a resolution requested by Mazziotti asking the Department of Homeland Security to provide resources needed to prevent the employment of undocumented immigrants.

The ordinance allows the code enforcement office to cite employers with a civil infraction of $250.

Two dozen speak

Two dozen people spoke, sometimes heatedly, for and against the ordinance, citing issues of equality or economic fairness.

City Attorney Nick Tsamoutales said he believes the ordinance can be defended in court. And representatives from four agencies that represent immigrants said they’ll legally challenge the ordinance, if it is approved.

“Go ahead, sue us. You know why? When we win, it will become binding throughout the U.S. This will be a model,” councilman Ed Geier said.

“We will sue,” Samuel Lopez, president of United Third World, said after the meeting.

Lopez was angered that a group of day laborers reported they had been asked for their green cards and were arrested Thursday in Palm Bay after being stopped for speeding.

“This is what this ordinance is going to trigger,” he said.

But City Manager Lee Feldman said the four men arrested are accused of having false identification cards and were not targeted and detained without cause.

Teresa Lopez said the ordinance will spread to other cities.

“This ordinance has begun the hatred. Hispanic people have been targeted,” she said.

Mary Gundrum, an immigration attorney with the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, based in Miami, and several other speakers said only the federal government should govern the treatment of undocumented workers. Speakers from her organization, the American Civil Liberties Union and Florida Commission on Human Relations and United Third Bridge threatened to sue if the ordinance passed.

Kevin Aflin of the Brevard County chapter of the ACLU asked council members to wait until suits against a similar ordinance passed in Hazelton, Pa., are decided.

“Neither the city of Palm Bay nor the thousands of other cities can take on that,” he said.

Kyle Stephens of Miami said the ordinance encourages “anti-immigrant hysteria and racial profiling.”

Ella Austin of Palm Bay said undocumented workers would like to be legal workers but many can’t.

“And some of us know by the way we look, talk and dress that we are the ones who will be stopped,” Austin said.

Some speak in favor of law

Others spoke in support of the law.

Sabrina Anderson, Andy’s wife, asked those who don’t want to lose their jobs to illegal workers to call City Hall.

“One hundred percent of illegal aliens are criminal,” she said. “Protect the jobs of my children.”

Michael Bursing, a 20-year Palm Bay resident, urged the council to “have the guts” to pass the ordinance.

Resident Dale Davis said the ordinance is fair. He asked for an interlocal agreement with Palm Bay police, the county sheirff’s office and the Coast Guard to enforce the illegal worker laws.

Said John Russo, “All we’re asking for is for them to be legal.”

Contact Jump at 409-1423 or ljump@brevard.gannett.com.